Serena Snape
by Mantolwen
Summary: Serena is a bouncy friendly girl, full of life. She has lots of fun, making friends and finding out things. She's also good at performing high-level spells, but not first-year ones. However she has one secret, which must be hidden at all costs.
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note:** Thanks to Cyndi for betaing, you rock!

**Summary:** Serena is a bouncy friendly girl, full of life. She enjoys playing jokes and can do fifth year spells, even before she comes to Hogwarts for her first year. However she has one secret, which must be hidden at all costs.

Severus Snape walked to the outskirts of Hogsmeade at the end of the summer term and apparated home. He strolled up the drive to the smallish mansion, but only made it half way. Serena, his eleven-year-old daughter, came rushing down the drive to meet him.

"Dad, Dad!"

"Hiya Serry!" said Severus smiling, grabbing her in a tight hug, for he had not seen her in months. Then he gently lowered her to the ground and released her.

"Mum, Mum, Dad's home!" yelled Serena, pulling her father to the front door. Severus smiled and pretended to be annoyed. In reality, he was delighted to be home again with his family.

They entered the house, and there was Catherine Snape, his wife. Blonde with hazel eyes, she smiled calmly at her husband.

Serena let go of her Dad and Severus walked to Catherine. They hugged each other tightly and gazed into each other's eyes. Eventually, they released each other.

Then Catherine said, "I've made you some dinner, something to take away the taste of that Hogwarts food," she grinned. "Guess what it is,"

"Er, lasagna?"

"Nope," said Serena. "Try again,"

"What could it be?" said Severus, pretending to be confused. "Um… shepherd's pie?"

"Uh-uh, one more guess," suggested Catherine.

"Could it possibly be… spaghetti bolognese?"

"Correct" stated Serena. Severus smiled, for spaghetti bolognese was his favorite food. He winked slyly at his daughter as he spoke to his wife again.

"I suppose you had to get Serena to help you then?" he asked.

"I did it all myself!" said Catherine defensively.

They headed into the kitchen and settled down for their meal. They ate in silence for a while, and then Severus spoke.

"What a year it's been."

"What happened?" begged Serena.

"Well as you know the Order required me a lot during last holidays, with reports and everything. They'll probably want me this year as well," he replied.

"Oh," said Serena disappointed that she probably wouldn't see her dad much this holiday either.

"And then it was back to work. As usual that Malfoy brat and Potter were up to no good in Potions."

"And I suppose you showed favor to Malfoy as usual," said Catherine, raising her eyebrows.

"I have a reputation to keep up as a Death Eater and a Gryffindor hater you know," said Severus.

"Reputation: what a load of Thestral dung," said Serena. Her parents were shocked.

"Where did you pick up language like that, Miss Snape?" asked Severus sharply.

"Simone put it in one of her letters, she says that it's a very popular phrase in both Beauxbatons and Hogwarts at the moment," she said, shrugging. "She got it from her brother."

"Well never use it again," admonished her mother. Serena had the decency to look down at her plate in sorrow.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"And so you should be," said her father, before continuing the conversation.

"It was lucky though, my reputation that I have. If I hadn't been like that the Ministry," he wrinkled his nose, "could've taken over the school."

"Why?" asked Catherine.

"Umbridge," stated Severus with finality. "She was… well… this is one person who _can_ be described as… as… what Serena said. I had to give her fake Veritaserum in order to prevent her poisoning Potter. As a matter of fact, she stopped Potter and two of the Weasley boys from going on their house Quidditch teams; locked their brooms up in her office and all.

"No!" gasped Serena.

"Oh yes, then she got rid of most of the teachers, Sybil, Minerva, all the Order."

"Even Dumbledore?" said Catherine amazed.

"No, Dumbledore left by himself with Fawkes, after stunning the Minister, Umbridge, and two Aurors who were also there. I'm sure you heard about it. It was just after Umbridge had discovered about the existence of the DA."

"What's the DA?" asked Serena.

"Potter decided that since Umbridge wouldn't teach them defence spells in their Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, he would teach the students himself. I suspect that it was Miss Granger's idea actually. She is the type. He called it Dumbledore's Army for some reason," he said.

"What else happened?" asked Catherine.

"Minerva got stunned by four stunners when she attempted to stop them getting rid of Hagrid, but he went of his own accord in the end. Potter, the two youngest Weasleys, Granger, Longbottom and Lovegood went off to the Department of Mysteries and almost got themselves killed. Half the order went off to save them, and Black got himself killed, not that he's any great loss," he finished.

"Severus!" said Catherine admonishingly. "You don't really mean that do you?"

"Yes I do," insisted Severus, before scraping the last of the spaghetti onto his fork. "You can tell me the rest of what happened later," she added, realizing that it was getting too serious for her daughter to hear.

"Dad!" 

"What is it Serry?"

"Can we go to Diagon Alley and get me a wand, please?"

"Are you sure you want to go now? The students haven't even reached Platform 9 ¾ yet."

"Oh, go on dad, we know I'm a witch, and it'll be emptier today than if we go later," she said wisely.

"Alright then," said Severus with a sigh, knowing that there was no way that he was going to get out of this.

*~*~*

They flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. Severus went first, followed by Serena.

"Good morning Severus," said Tom the barman politely.

"Morning Tom," Serena tumbled out of the fireplace behind them. "Nothing today please, we're just going to Diagon Alley."

Tom nodded, and continued to polish the beer glasses. Serena followed her father out of the quiet bar and into the tiny courtyard at the back.

Once in there, Severus removed the dust, ash and soot from Serena's hair with a quick cleaning charm. Her darkened hair became blonde again. Serena was of average height for an eleven-year-old, and her hair had dark streaks of brown through it. Her eyes were dark like her father's.

Severus opened the gate and they strolled into Diagon Alley. Their first stop was Gringotts, and Serena screamed all the way down to the vault, as though it was a roller coaster ride. Serena had been on a roller coaster once, at Alton Towers, and had loved it.

The Goblin, which was called Barkclaw, stopped the cart and they climbed out. He unlocked the Snape vault, number 712. Serena looked with interest at the two neighboring vaults. Number 713 had contained the Philosophers Stone, but 711 was the Black family vault, now belonging to Nymphadora Tonks, last of the good Blacks.

They took several handfuls of Galleons, plus a few Sickles and some Knuts. Then they faced the hair-raising ride back to the surface.

Their second stop was Ollivanders, and so they headed along the winding alleyway. It led them past the entrances into many other 'Alleys' including the Asian sector of Conservator Alley, and the dark Knockturn Alley, where even known Death Eaters could walk about with their cloak hoods down and not be caught. As they headed past the entrance to that dreaded place a cold voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Severus Snape," the voice issued from under the hood of the man's cloak. It covered his face completely. Serena backed away, closer to her father, who put his left hand on her shoulder, gripping it tightly. With his right hand he gripped his wand tightly. Swiftly, he analyzed the situation and made a plan. 

"Peter Pettigrew," replied Severus not bothering to lower his voice. Unfortunately no one heard him, mainly because Knockturn Alley was a place that all kept away from, and the place was fairly empty anyway.

"Traitor," said the Animagus. Severus smiled slightly.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to work it out," he replied. Serena wondered what her father was planning. Surely this was not a good way to get away from someone. Severus bent down with a worried frown on his face and whispered something into his daughter's ear. She made a slight movement of her head to show that she understood.

"Hand over your daughter, and I won't report you to our master," said Wormtail, gaining confidence, as Severus seemed scared.

"I'm not the only traitor," replied the spy, "you betrayed the Potters, thereby causing _your_ master's downfall. He's not my master."

"Hand over your daughter," repeated the ex-Marauder. Severus released his daughter, backed away, and then apparated from the place. It seemed as though he had left his daughter to the Death Eater. Shaking madly, for she was frightened out of her wits even though she knew some of the plan, she looked into his eyes. If this failed…

Peter leered at Serena. "Your Daddy left you, eh?"

Serena raised her eyebrows and vanished from Peter's sight. He looked about for her in a panic, and then he heard an angry hissing from his feet. Suddenly he felt something slide slowly over his legs. 

He looked down; a great snake was wrapping itself about him. It travelled slowly up his legs, and soon reached his waist. There it settled in a ring. Peter didn't dare move, and he certainly wouldn't transform, since snakes loved to eat rats. He was too scared to summon up the power to Apparate, and plus he might take the snake with him.

Several Aurors appeared on the spot with Severus, and Peter realised that it was a trap. He had no idea how Snape had transfigured his daughter into a snake, for surely that was what had happened. Although the Animagus transformation was not difficult, being done wandless, and not requiring more than a little talent in transfiguration, or involving moving of objects in milliseconds over a long distance like Apparition did, it was never attempted by younger people. At least, not in the books he had read.

Severus was constantly worried for his daughter, especially since Voldemort had returned. His family was especially vulnerable to attacks, with his position. If he were ever found out by other Death Eaters, as Wormtail had done, it would be dangerous for them all. Serena was, in fact, an Animagus. Wormtail had got his facts wrong. If Serena were faced by more than one Death Eater then she wouldn't simply be able to scare them all off. As she was younger it would be harder for her anyway, since she would tire more easily. Although she had unusually advanced knowledge of magic and spells, the Death Eaters had far greater experience than she did in life.

One of the Aurors grabbed Peter's arms, and used a magical pair of handcuffs to hold them together behind his back. They were designed so that when the door to the cell that they were magically connected to was locked, they would vanish. Then they would reappear in the box where they were kept, open for use again.

Another Auror turned to the snake, and sighed. "Serena, release him please. We don't want to accidentally hurt you, and this charm is quite difficult to perform." Although Serena's identity was usually kept hidden, Severus and Catherine had permitted the Auror division to know who she was. Even the few who were members of the Order were not permitted to tell it to anyone else that they knew. Tom the barman, who received many unusual customers, was told to overlook them when together. Respecting their wish, he did so.

The snake slowly unwound itself from Peter's waist, and deliberately went over his shoulder to reach the ground. As it passed his ear it pretended to take a bite. Peter squealed like a girl. Yet another Auror cast a spell over Peter, and then said, "Peter John Pettigrew, you are under arrest for the murder of twelve Muggles, the attempted kidnap of Serena Snape, and being a Death Eater," the Auror rolled back Pettigrew's left sleeve.

There was the Dark Mark, a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. The Auror, Nymphadora Tonks, spoke again to Peter. "An anti-Apparition charm has been cast upon you," then she spoke to the snake. "Okay Serena, you can transform back now."

The first Auror, Alastor Moody, who had begun to work at the Ministry again since they had realised that Dumbledore told the truth, knocked the hood off from over Peter's face. By this time a huge crowd had gathered to find out what the fuss was about, and they all gasped when they saw his face. They had heard the exchange but had never really believed that it was Peter Pettigrew. Serena, who was coiled at her father's feet, did not transform because it was too dangerous. Instead, she waited until the Aurors had moved the crowd away from the area. She hoped that none of them remembered that Tonks had said 'Serena Snape', before she transformed and showed her Animagus license to the Aurors. She brushed her hands together tidily. 'A job well done,' she thought.

Serena and her father then continued to Ollivander's, where Serena found that she had a twelve-inch long, mahogany wand containing one dragon heartstring.

Later, after Serena had bought her oddly named owl Horace, she asked if she could visit the new shop Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Understandably her father refused to go in with her, but gave her several Galleons to buy some things with.

Serena pushed open the door, and a bell rang. Unlike Ollivander's where the bell sounded far into the shop, this one was right above her head and very loud. With a sigh, Serena raised her wand and said, "Silencio," jabbing her wand at the offending bell. It fell silent, although it continued to swing wildly from side to side.

With a pop, one of the Weasley twins apparated at her side. "That's a fifth year spell!" he said in amazement. Serena grinned again; "I suppose so. I am hoping to get into Ravenclaw you know. My father says that I'm just magically gifted. He says that I could probably beat Hermione Granger if I tried. I can't be bothered though."

"You know Hermione?" said Fred or George in surprise. Serena gulped, realising her stupid mistake, but tried to cover it up.

"Not personally, no. But she was in the Daily Prophet a few times with awards for her good results. That would be in the middle pages," she added at the twin's puzzled look. He nodded, seeming to accept her answer.

"Anyway, what I should be saying is, can I help you madam?" he made a mock bow of politeness.

Serena giggled. "No thanks, I'm just looking." No one could have suspected that the bright eyed, friendly girl, with the honey-coloured hair was daughter to the strictest Hogwarts professor.

Serena strolled around, looking at the items on display. There were Fake Wands®, Skiving Snackboxes®, Canary Creams®, and a new item, Cursing Cushions®. All were registered trademarks of WWW. She bought one of the Snackboxes and a box of Canary Creams, then she decided to buy a Cursing Cushion as well; they had ones that you could charm to be any colour you liked.

Then Serena approached the counter. The other Weasley twin totalled up the price and said, "five Galleons please."

Serena shook her head expressively. "Actually it's four Galleons fifteen and twelve Knuts."

The twin shook his head in amazement. "Hey Fred, I think we have Ravenclaw material here!"

Serena curtseyed the compliment, making both laugh.

"Ok, four Galleons, fifteen Sickles, twelve Knuts then." Serena paid and left, swinging the WWW bag from her hand.

The last stop was at the Apothecary, Prunella's Potion Ingredients, which was the only one that Severus trusted. He selected the required amounts of ingredients carefully, to make sure that the potions were not tainted by any dirt. Then they flooed home.


	2. Let's play Quidditch!

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note:** Thanks to Cyndi for betaing, you rock!

**Summary:** Serena is a bouncy friendly girl, full of life. She enjoys playing jokes and can do fifth year spells, even before she comes to Hogwarts for her first year. However she has one secret, which must be hidden at all costs. This Chapter - Quidditch!

They were both tired, and so Severus and Serena slept well. The next morning they woke early. It was the last day of the Quidditch season and Chudley Cannons were playing Puddlemere United, second in the league and 100 points ahead of their opponents.

The Quidditch ground being used was in fact the same one that the Hogwarts Quidditch teams used for their games. Usually, the games took place during the holidays or at weekends, and so the students would often go and watch them, along with the professors. The professors did not always come to supervise either. Because of this far away location, and the anti-apparition wards, the only way to get to the game was by portkey. The Snapes had to walk for one mile to get to theirs, in the fields surrounding their Warwickshire mansion. However, before they left the house they checked the Daily Prophet. Sure enough, there it was on the front page: huge letters declaring, "SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT!"

Below it was an article by one of the reporters, describing the arrest. It did not go into many details, deliberately leaving out the kidnap by Pettigrew and how Serena was the one to stop him. In fact, it seemed to suggest that Pettigrew had been sneaking through Diagon Alley in his Death Eater uniform, when a passer-by had seen him, and told the ministry.

They were the only ones using the portkey, as ever, and at 9.00 they were transported to the beautiful mountains and forests of Scotland. Serena had never been to this pitch before, since the team she supported, the Cannons, usually played locally to where Serena lived, and looked round in astonishment at the stands. More importantly, she saw the tall towers of her future school, where she and her parents would be staying the night. Her parents had an important meeting with Professor Dumbledore about the next school year, and about sorting her under a different name to her father's.

Several students had returned to their school to watch the match. Her father was deliberately sitting away from her and her mother, and she understood why. Students would hate her next year if they knew that she was his daughter, or at least think that she was like him. Plus, there could be Death Eater's children about.

A bunch of redheads took the seats above them. "Hey look George, it's Silencio girl!"

Serena spun round in her seat to see Fred and George Weasley with their brothers and sister. "Hi again!" she said. Quickly counting them, she noted that there were only three boys and one girl in the younger generation, plus parents. Fred and George had the dragon skin jackets on, which they had been wearing the previous day. She tried not to grimace.

"Hi, what is your name anyway?" asked George, _he's the one with missing eyebrows_ noted Serena.

"Serena Jones," said Serena using her mother's maiden name. "This is my Mum,"

They greeted 'Mrs. Jones' and then introduced themselves. Luna Lovegood, a friend of the family who lived in Ottery St. Catchpole, was also watching with her father.

"So, what house do you want to be in?" asked Luna demurely.

"Ravenclaw," chanted Fred, George and Serena together.

"Jinx touch wood!" said Serena quickly pulling out her wand.

"Very sensible," remarked Luna. "The Crumple Horned Snorkacks will hypnotize anyone without a wand."

"Crumple Horned Snorkack? What's a Crumple Horned Snorkack?" asked Serena. Luna was a Ravenclaw and so she might be right in saying that they exist. After all, Ravenclaw was the house of the intelligent.

"A Crumple Horned Snorkack is a tall bear-like beast. They normally have brown coats and their ears are like a cats. Their eyes are blue, except when they are trying to hypnotize you, and then they turn green. Their horns come out of the sides of their heads and are curled up like a rams, except more so," said Luna vaguely.

"Wow," said Serena genuinely impressed.

"Come on, surely you don't believe that rubbish!" scoffed Ron. Hermione, his girlfriend who was staying with him over the holidays, nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I don't know. Hermione, could you do any fifth year spells in your first year?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Silencio!" commanded Serena, jabbing her wand at Hermione. Her mother groaned, because her daughter was showing off, _again_.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She covered her mouth in surprise, and Serena performed the counter charm.

"You are amazing, you could practically do OWLs now!" exclaimed the girl.

"That's why they call me Silencio girl," Serena replied, grinning at Fred and George. "I still have to learn the theory, but according to mum I'll definitely be a Ravenclaw. It's kind of embarrassing actually, to be good at stuff."

The match began; Puddlemere took the lead, with their new goalkeeper up from the reserve squad, Oliver Wood, keeping the goal clear. But this was Quidditch at a professional level, fast and furious. The Chudley Cannons soon took back the lead, after ten minutes the score was 30-20 to the Cannons.

The team above Puddlemere in the league was only 30 points ahead. There was no way that they could win the league, either the Cannons or Puddlemere would take the cup.

Most were rooting for Puddlemere since the Cannons would need to be over 100 points higher than United at the end to win. Also, the Cannons hadn't won the league since 1892 so it was unlikely. However, the Cannons had recently taken on a new Seeker, and Alicia Spinnet was a Chaser in the first team. The old 'third Chaser' was much worse than she was. For this reason, Ron looked delighted and most of the people in the stadium looked disappointed. 

The Cannons manager had publicly declared that if they were to win the cup, they would change their motto back to 'We shall conquer'. This inspired the players, as could be seen today.

Using her omnioculars they saw the cannons go ahead by fifty points, at 100-50. The commentator, ex-student Lee Jordan who had been hired by the pitch as official commentator, suddenly exclaimed, "and Jackson has seen the snitch!" Lee was pleased to be back at Hogwarts without the restrictions of Professor McGonagall over him. Now he could say whatever he wanted, Lee grinned.

All eyes turned to the streak of orange racing after the blur of gold, a sudden movement, and the match was all over. Duncan Jackson slowed his pace as he raised his arm into the air, light glinting off the golden snitch.

Ron Weasley stood up and clapped and cheered with all his might, Hermione dutifully stood with him. Serena also celebrated the win with them. All over the stadium Cannons fans were cheering, waving flags. There weren't many of them, but they still made more noise than the booing United fans. Lee, who was in the commentator's box next to their stand, turned to wink at George. He had a huge grin on his face, as he said the quietening charm. Then he strolled out of the box to where they sat. He stopped for a short chat with Fred and George, and Luna was talking about Ravenclaw house to Serena.

The final score was 250-50, and the Cannons had won the league by 120 points. Luna took her omnioculars from her bag, the ones that she had taken from the Quidditch World Cup two years ago, and trained them on someone in the crowd. For once she did not speak vaguely, but with surprise, "Isn't that Professor Snape?"

"Where?" said Ron.

Luna pointed; Serena too trained her omnioculars upon her father. Then she removed them from her eyes.

"What does he teach?" she asked, feigning curiosity.

"Potions," said Ron with a groan. "He's really nice to Slytherins but hates Gryffindors."

Serena looked pointedly at her mother and they stood up to leave. Quickly they said 'goodbye' and exited the stadium.

"Do you think he stays here all year round?" wondered Ron as she left.

"Except when he's pretending to be a Death Eater," replied Hermione sensibly.

*~*~*

Serena and her mother headed across the lawns to the castle, for they were going to meet Professor Dumbledore in his office and wait for her father there. Some others had also taken rooms in the castle for the night, and so this would not look suspicious. Soon they arrived at the main entrance.

Albus Dumbledore himself met them at the doors. He obviously knew of Serena and her parents, for it was impossible to keep anything a secret from him. He shook Catherine's hand, and smiled warmly at Serena. Then he led them both to his office, the password being unchanged as yet from the previous year, _Droobles Best Blowing Gum_.

"How are you both?" he asked them, eyes twinkling.

"Great," replied Catherine, and her daughter nodded.

"And how is Severus?"

"He's fine, a little tired, and probably disappointed."

"Who won?" said the venerable headmaster. "I didn't watch the game."

"It was all over in an hour," said Serena enthusiastically, "The Cannons won the league!"

Dumbledore smiled. "Impressive. I'm sure Ronald Weasley will be pleased."

"He is," responded Serena, "he was right behind us."

Just then Severus Snape entered the room looking tired.

"Hello Dad," said Serena.

"Hiya Serry, Catherine, Headmaster," said Severus, a grin lighting up his face. He nodded respectfully at the headmaster. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled even more, and he looked up at the Potions master.

"Tired, Severus?"

"Extremely,"

"Well before you go to bed, I have something important to tell you all. This has nothing to do with our meeting tomorrow."

"What?" asked Severus, his voice becoming serious.

"The attempted kidnap upon Serena made me realise that you are all in danger, be careful. You must understand that no-one, and particularly yourselves, are safe from Voldemort," said Dumbledore gravely.

"We do," said Catherine and her husband together. 

"Well be wary, that is all I have to say," said the headmaster. The group stood up, and Dumbledore led the family to their rooms, which were away from the rest in a barely used part of the castle,

"These rooms were originally designed to be classrooms, and there were a few guestrooms among them, but there have never been enough students to fill the rooms and for us to require more teachers. There have also been few guests visiting Hogwarts apart from the Triwizard Tournament," and for a moment Albus became sad. "I am afraid the founders were too hopeful for the future. No students have ever come this way, or I would know about it, not even a Marauder," he added blandly. Severus winced slightly.

"Wow!" gasped Serena. She and her parents looked in wonder at the portraits lining the hallways. They contained people wearing strange mediaeval costumes, and were not moving; the method of getting pictures to move was not discovered until about 1000AD. They headed past numerous doors, leaving a trail in the dust, until they arrived at a door labelled 'guestroom 198'.

Then Serena realised something, "Er, Professor, sir?"

"What is it Serena?"

"If we are the first to come down here in centuries then how come you know about this place?"

"Smart one, aren't you?" responded the headmaster with a smile. "I found the documents for this place in my office, hiding away in a drawer somewhere. I sent the house elves to clean it out, since they use their own tunnels to get about."

"I see," replied Serena, who didn't.

The headmaster removed from the folds of his robes an old iron key. He handed it to Serena. "This room is yours,"

"Thank you sir," said Serena. Her parents headed down the corridor with Dumbledore and she put the key into the lock. She twisted it; the lock was stiff, but suddenly the key jerked, and a clank sounded. Serena pulled down the handle and pushed the door open.

A fire was burning in the grate, presumably a house-elf had lit it. Before the fire was an old armchair, and on the table beside it was a book, crumbling in places. Serena walked over and sat on the chair. As she picked up the book it crumbled into pieces. Furiously Serena cast a repair spell onto it, and the book became as good as new.

Serena turned to the front page, the title was in a strange language, and she couldn't understand it. As she watched, however, the words seemed to merge and become English. 'Translator spell,' presumed Serena, although it was not like any she had ever seen before.

"_The diaries of Rowena Ravenclaw,_" read Serena.

"_I founded this school with my three friends Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff. Together we have made a community that stands for justice, and peace. I created this room deep into the castle where it can never be found until one thousand years have passed. Only the heir can read this writing, the heir of the founders._

Heir of mine, follow this well, seek out your legacy.

'Things have happened that should not be,

Changing the future of history,

The past cannot alter but take care of this,

The future can change because it isn't fixed.

The one who left he changes the world,

Hatred of one who stayed true to his word,

Now go to the Chamber, with ancient dead beast,

Enter the mouth of him, little and least.'"

After reading the strange passage Serena knew at least one thing, she was an heir of Ravenclaw. This confused her, neither of her parents had been in that house, her father was a reluctant Slytherin, her mother a staunch Gryffindor.

Serena also knew that she would have to go down to the Chamber of Secrets. There the 'ancient dead beast', or Basilisk, lay. However she was not sure about the final line. Serena looked on in the book to see if there was any more help. However the other pages were in the strange language, perhaps the translator spell only worked for part of the book, or that you had to do a certain thing to make it work. Serena decided to go down to the Chamber of Secrets, how lucky she was, being a snake animagus she could get past the entrance. From what her father had said, the original one – in the second floor girl's toilets - had been blocked by falling rocks, but she would check first.

Serena stood up and walked to the door, she opened it, and then realised that her parents might worry about her. She returned to her room, and found her small bag, opening it she took out a piece of parchment and a quill. Dipping the quill into her rainbow ink she wrote a quick message, "I'm just going to explore the castle, see you later."

Serena left her room and locked the door. She used a Muggle pin to fix her message to the door, and then headed towards the nearest toilet.

She turned a corner and there, ahead of her, was the girl's bathroom. She pushed the door open and walked towards the sinks. Then she pulled away one of the rusted gratings and looked for a way into the pipes. However the girl could not see one, and so she decided just to transform and follow the pipes. Now she came to think of it, how could such a great beast fit into the small pipes?

Serena concentrated briefly and then her eyelids vanished. She could see vaguely about the room, close to her in sharp focus she could see the hole she had created. Serena slithered into the hole and followed the pipe under the floor.

The passage was smelly and dark. At certain points along the way lights shone from above through gratings. In some points water dripped into the tunnel, and she had to almost swim through it. At one point algae covered the walls and stuck to her scales, restricting her slightly. She knew when she passed Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, because there were visible marks of water on the walls, even in the dim light and with her poor snake eyesight, and the floor was soaked. The pipe grew larger and the slope of the pipe started to turn downhill, almost vertical. She headed down the passageway until she felt the space open wide enough to transform. Once she had become human again she glanced around. 

The chamber was dark, and there were strange columns supporting the ceiling, with snakes and, for some odd reason, eagles, carved into them. She cast the spell to bring light to her wand. Looking in the book that she had brought with her she read the final line of the poem, "_enter the mouth of him, little and least._"

What could that mean? As she glanced about the room her eyes adjusted to the light, and she began to notice statues about the edge of the room. She glanced at their names, "Marcus Maximus Decimus," "Simonus Darius Havus," in the far corner was a statue of a small man, could this be the one that Rowena meant?

"Valerius Minumus Parvus," her small knowledge of Latin from her father told her that this man was 'Valerie' the least and little. She looked at his mouth, but it was too small for even her snake form to go into. She tried putting her hand into his mouth, and felt around inside. Then her fingers rested upon some sort of lever, she grabbed it and pulled.

Behind her, on the floor, she heard a grating noise, she spun around to see the floor opening up, revealing a long line of steps…

* * *

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**Severus Snape is Mine, Dark-Winds, Ryan'sbabe86, Pussin Boots:** Thank you for reviewing!


	3. Fred and George!

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Author's Note:** Thanks to Cyndi for betaing, you rock!

**Summary:** Serena is a bouncy friendly girl, full of life. She enjoys playing jokes and can do fifth year spells, even before she comes to Hogwarts for her first year. However she has one secret, which must be hidden at all costs. This Chapter - Serena's Quest Continues.

Serena looked at the flight of stairs. She was feeling hungry after her hard work. Looking at her watch she saw that it was nearly twelve. Surprised she let out a quick breath, for she had been away for almost an hour! There was no time to go down the stairs now.

Serena turned towards the way she had entered. Changing into her snake form she slithered along the pipeline. As she went along she noticed several markings in English, which surprised her. Who could have written them in this small a space? "Guestroom 198," read one, with an arrow pointing upwards. Excitedly she quickly wiggled up the short distance to a grating. Pushing on this grating made it come away from the floor.

Serena climbed out of the hole and again became human. 

She was in a bathroom, which looked fairly modern and clean. This puzzled her, since according to Dumbledore the room had not been used before. According to Rowena Ravenclaw herself, not for 1000 years! Pushing open the door to the bathroom she found herself back in the ancient room.

Serena walked to the main door and opened it again. She glanced at her colourful notice and saw that her father had written a message on the bottom in his quick, neat handwriting. 'We've gone to lunch. Sit with Mum, love Dad."

Serena smiled and headed for the Great Hall. She didn't find it hard to get there; the smell of food cooking guided her nose towards the kitchen, and once in the Entrance Hall she heard the buzz of people chatting.

Catherine Snape sat on the Gryffindor table next to the Weasley twins. She was joking with them about something. Serena looked about her, and saw that her father was on the teacher's table next to the headmaster. She smiled imperceptibly and headed for her mother and the twins.

"Hi," she said, squeezing in between her mother and Fred.

"Hi Serry," said her mother. "You've been away for a while, are you alright?"

"Hi brainy," said Fred and George together. Fred and George were both growing their hair long. Fred had bits of burnt hair and George had pasty looking skin. They had not been like that during the match earlier.

"I'm fine," said Serena calmly. "Just been exploring the castle." _Well, I was, exploring the Chamber of Secrets, _she thought. "Sorry I made you worry, and what have you two been testing?" asked Serena, suspiciously. "Fred, where are your eyebrows, and George, you look rather ill."

Fred and George glanced at each other, surprised that she could tell the difference between them, before Fred whispered to Serena, "We'll only tell you if you promise to keep up our reputation as pranksters and Marauders at Hogwarts,"

"Ok," replied Serena, curiosity filling her. "I promise,"

George whispered something to Fred. "You have to go to the Room of Requirement and want the prankster room; all pranksters are called Marauders here; and then say the oath written on the wall and sign your name. But you have to be Sorted first," said Fred.

"I will," said Serena, before taking a bite of chicken.

"At midnight on September the first."

"Yes," replied Serena.

"And then you can owl us and we will tell you,"

"Or better still come down to Diagon Alley for Christmas," added George.

"I'll try," said Serena, putting down her chicken bone and picking up her knife and fork to eat some sprouts, which she had piled high on her plate.

"I can't believe you like sprouts," said Ron, sitting across the table from her.

"They're gorgeous," responded Serena, "mmmmmmmmmmmmm,"

Ron made a gagging noise and pretended to vomit.

They continued eating. After they had finished they chatted for a while about houses at Hogwarts, warning Serena away from Slytherin if she didn't get into Ravenclaw ('as if!' said Fred and George) and recommending Gryffindor. They steered clear of Hufflepuff, and that was what Serena brought up.

"I think Hermione would make a great Hufflepuff," she said calmly, but tensed inside. Hermione turned angry suddenly,

"What do you mean by that? The Sorting Hat could have put me in Ravenclaw!"

"But it didn't, did it? It put you in Gryffindor, Hufflepuffs are loyal, hopefully like you, and they work hard, definitely like you. Ravenclaws don't need to work hard; in fact they mess around an awful lot! At least, I do."

"You seem to know a lot about the houses," said Hermione, grumpily. Serena raised her eyebrows and said nothing.

Once Professor Snape had left the hall, his family also made an excuse to leave.

*~*~*

Once back into her room, Serena opened the book. There were two new lines underneath the poem.

"_Well done, heir of mine, go down the long steps. There you will find a way to understand the next part of this poem, RR."_

Serena went to her parents and told them that she would be 'unavailable' until dinner, at six o'clock, when she would meet her mother in the Great Hall. Both assumed that she was doing some revision for upcoming exams at her school. She then went down to the chamber again, and drew her wand.

The steps were long and narrow, and the walls dripped with water. She lit her wand-tip and proceeded carefully. After a ten-minute walk she reached a platform at the bottom. As usual she looked about her, making sure to see what was in the room. All she could see was an old stone coffin, and so she approached it.

"H_ere lies the body of Rowena Ravenclaw and the body of Salazar Slytherin,_

Together in life as in death, Requiem in Pace."

"Rest in peace," murmured Serena aloud, placing her hand on the lid of cold marble. She wondered how to reveal the next part of the poem; maybe she had to open the coffin to find out. But there were dead bodies in there!

Serena glanced about the room for more help, and then she noticed two wooden torches by the door. She went up to them and lit each one with a flame charm. Their light was enough to reveal more torches, and soon the whole room was filled with flickering firelight. Now she could see that there was a door leading off from this hall, but it was closed.

She headed towards the door and tried opening it. However, it was locked and the unlocking spell did not work. She looked into the book but nothing had changed. Serena sighed, and wrinkled her nose; she would have to open the coffin.

She walked back to it and lifted the lid; it was very heavy, yet she somehow managed to push it aside. It fell to the floor with a splintering crack, Serena had broken it! Sighing, the young girl looked inside the dusty tomb, and saw no bodies. She breathed deeply in relief, although she wondered why the inscription had said the two founders were there. Maybe they had been buried elsewhere, or the coffin had been made but never used.

In the tomb was a shining sword with an emerald set in the hilt. Along the blade were the words, "Salazar Slytherin." Serena picked up the sword and felt her hand tingle with the magical power.

She carefully placed the sword on the floor and looked again inside the coffin, all that remained was a leather belt with a sword sheath. She took the belt and almost unconsciously put it on, and then she slid the gleaming sword into its holder.

*~*~*

Once back in her room half an hour later, Serena again drew the sword. It still gleamed as though it was new, and its point now pierced a piece of paper.

"_The sword of Slytherin can help you on your quest, heir of Ravenclaw, for the two were married and you are his heir also. The prophecy is not as it would seem, for the one born in July will defeat the dark lord, but you shall rule the future of the magical world, for it is your destiny. You must restore hope to Slytherin. The dark lord will die, or the July born will die, or both will die. Defeat does not mean death, and the Dark Lord may kill the one who defeats him. _

Death and defeat do not go hand in hand

Leaders may die, but armies can win.

You must take the future forwards,

Whether defeated or not,

Or he will kill you and the world will end.

To allow the diary to show the next part of your quest touch the pommel to the front page."

Serena sheathed the sword and folded the paper into four. It was dinnertime, and Serena walked down to the Great Hall, hiding her sword underneath her robes. She would continue with her quest later…

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**Selene-13-immortal:** The bloke is called Valerie because there was this bloke called Valerius in one of my Latin books ages ago!

Severus Snape is Mine, Dark-Winds, Ryan'sbabe86: Thank you for reviewing! Keep reading it, my consistent reviewers!


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